Witchy Woman
by MkSC77
Summary: Halloween 2019 in the Flynn household, because of course Sharon is alive and well—really late, sorry about that!


**Sorry this is so late, hope y'all like it! Eleanor is Rusty's sister, and she's a few weeks away from turning three here.**

"Here, honey, use the spoon." Sharon placed Eleanor's discarded spoon back in her hand and guided it back into the child-sized pumpkin. The nearly-three-year-old gave Sharon a disbelieving look, dropped her spoon again, and dug back into the pumpkin with both hands. "Honey, no-oh, my god." Sharon gave up when Marie followed suit and started scooping out the pumpkin with her hands. "Hold on, let's get your clothes off so you don't make such a mess." After stripping Eleanor down to her panties and Marie to her diaper, Sharon stood back and let them go nuts.

"Don't worry about it, Mom, we'll just throw them in the bath when we're done," Emily spoke up. "This is probably the fastest way."

"You sure are calm..." Sharon turned around. "Ah, I see why." She took a glass from Emily and sat in one of the porch chairs. Now, _this_ was her idea of a Friday afternoon. When Emily and Emmett didn't have plans, Emily usually showed up with fourteen-month-old Marie soon after her nap, and Emmett would come over after work.

Emily sat in the chair beside Sharon's. "Do you like that? I thought it would be fun to make it for your Halloween party tomorrow night."

Sharon took a long sip from her glass. "That _is_ good. What's in it?"

"Vodka, ginger ale, pineapple juice, and some other stuff." Emily took a sip of her drink. "What are you guys going to be?"

Sharon rolled her eyes. "Andy and Provenza lost a bet with their commanding officer, so she got to pick their costumes. Which also means mine by default."

Emily wrinkled her nose. "It's Emmett's turn to get his way with costumes this year, so we have to do the couples thing. It's _so_ lame."

"Oh, I'm sure Andy was quick to throw me under the bus to avoid something really bad. We have to be Gomez and Morticia Addams, and Louie's Uncle Fester."

"Oh, my god, that's _perfect_ for Provenza!"

"I think that might've been why she chose that for us. Patrice is out of town, but she probably just would've said 'no' if she were given a costume assignment, anyway. Are you guys taking Marie trick-or-treating?"

"Kind of," Emily answered. "We're going to dress her up and walk around the neighborhood with our friends, but we're not taking her to houses for candy or anything."

Sharon winced as Marie's pumpkin-glob-filled hand went over her face and through her hair. "This is tearing my nerves up."

"It was _your_ idea," Emily retorted.

"I know...I just wish we could do it without the mess." Sharon looked up as Rusty stepped onto the back porch. "Hi, honey, did you get much studying done?"

"I wasn't _studying_, I was getting my outlines and everything _ready_ to study," Rusty corrected her.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh good god. Nerdiness takes on a new dimension."

"The Friday before Halloween is the best day for the library," Rusty continued, ignoring Emily. "Our Halloween party was last night, and that's always the last hurrah before everyone starts to study for exams. There aren't usually many people there on Fridays since only the 1Ls have class, but even a lot of them skipped today. The library was like a ghost town."

"Wusty!" Eleanor exclaimed, reaching a pumpkin-covered hand toward him.

"Hey, Ellie girl!" Rusty kissed the top of her head. "That's all you're getting from me until you don't have pumpkin gunk all over you, sorry." He looked at Sharon. "I didn't think she'd be here yet."

"Your mom had some things to do before going out of town this weekend and asked me if she could drop her off early," Sharon explained.

"All done!" Eleanor announced.

Sharon handed Rusty the cat stencil Eleanor had picked out. "If you'll trace that onto the pumpkin, I'll carve it."

"Deal."

Once the pumpkin was carved, Sharon lit a small candle and placed it inside. Marie squealed and pointed to it. "Ca!"

"When did she start saying 'cat?'" Sharon asked.

"Earlier this week," Emily answered. "It seems like she's saying something new every day."

Andy came home as Sharon and Emily finished cleaning up the pumpkin mess from the porch and the kids. "You're home early," Sharon commented after she kissed him.

"Yeah, we didn't have much going on, and we're due for a case. Hernandez let us go early...I picked up our costumes," Andy grumbled. "I can't _believe_ Provenza and I lost that bet."

"_I_ can't believe you guys thought you could outwit your commanding officer, especially a woman," Sharon shot back.

Andy pulled their costumes out of the bag in his hand. His annoyed expression twisted into a grin as he held up Sharon's long, black, low-cut dress. "Huh, maybe this won't be so bad...I can't _wait_ to see you in this."

Sharon reached for Andy's costume. "Yeah, mine's not bad, but _this_ is terrible..." She tilted her head up and kissed Andy again. "But I think you can pull it off."

"_Ew_, you guys, there are _kids_ out here," Rusty whined.

The next afternoon, with the house ready for the party, Sharon sat on the back porch with a glass of wine. Andy joined her soon after, in his ugly striped suit with a scowl on his face. Sharon moved over to make room for him in the chair beside her and couldn't help but laugh. "You laugh, you die," Andy muttered. "She couldn't have at least let me wear the plain black one."

"I think I'll take my chances." Sharon curled up against him, as the late afternoon was starting to get cool. Rusty came outside with Eleanor in his arms, and she struggled to get down. "What an adorable little kitty!" Sharon cooed as Eleanor climbed up in the chair with her and Andy. "I'll do your whiskers and nose after I do Papa's makeup in a little bit."

"_What_?! I never agreed to makeup!" Andy protested.

"You're going to need a little powder to make your face more pale."

Andy shook his head. "No way."

Sharon shrugged. "Well, if we're not going for realism, then I'll probably be more comfortable with a camisole under that dress. It's a little low-cut-"

"Okay, okay, do whatever you want to me," Andy quickly amended, leaning more closely to whisper in her ear. "Before _and_ after the party."

"We'll see, Casanova."

A little while later, Sharon was dressed and putting the finishing touches on her makeup, humming along to her phone as she applied gray eye shadow and red lipstick.

_She held me spellbound in the night_  
_Dancing shadows and firelight_  
_Crazy laughter in another room_  
_And she drove herself to madness with a silver spoon_

_Woo hoo, witchy woman_  
_See how high she flies_  
_Woo hoo, witchy woman_  
_She got the moon in her eye_

_Well, I know you want a lover_  
_Let me tell you, brother_  
_She's been sleeping in the devil's bed_  
_And there's some rumors going round, someone's underground_

_She can rock you in the night-time 'til your skin turns red..._

"Tell me about it," Andy commented, nodding at Sharon's phone as he entered the dressing area right outside of their bathroom.

Sharon rolled her eyes and stood up. "Sit."

Andy gave her a suffering look as he sat down. "I can't _believe_ I agreed to this."

"Relax, Andy, it's Halloween!" Sharon got a makeup brush and held her hand under his chin while she brushed powder over his face. Andy started to stand up when she closed the clasp, but she placed her hand against his chest and nudged him back down. "Hold on, I'm not finished."

"Not finished?! What else—"

"Just a minute." Sharon dipped an eye shadow brush into one of her palates and lightly brushed it under his eyes. "Now, a little lipstick—"

"Absolutely not. I draw the line there." Andy put his hand between his legs for a moment. "Just making sure my penis is still there."

"Oh, it is, I can assure you." Sharon put her hands on Andy's cheeks and kissed him before applying the mustache that had come with the costume. "For the love of _god_, don't _ever_ grow a mustache."

Andy turned to look in the mirror. "I don't know, I think I could pull this off! What do the kids call it, 'no-shave November?' Maybe I'll try it next month."

"If you participate in 'no-shave November,' then so am I," Sharon cautioned.

"Never mind," Andy said hastily. "I mean, not that you have to—not that I expect you to—" he sputtered.

"I know, honey, I'm kidding. You're so cute when you stick your foot in your mouth." Sharon scooped up Eleanor as she scampered in, wearing a black leotard and leggings. "All right, kitty cat, let's get you fixed up." She held Eleanor's face still as she carefully applied whiskers and blackened in the tip of her nose with her eyeliner pen. "Try not to touch your face for a few minutes, okay?" Sharon lowered Eleanor to the floor and walked toward the kitchen when she heard the alarm system beep a couple of times, meaning that a door had been opened. "I bet Marie's here!" The sound of little feet answered her before she was even in the kitchen. "Hey, my little pumpkin! Where's your costume?"

"It would've been a nightmare in her car seat," Emmett answered.

Sharon wrinkled her nose as she lifted Marie into her arms. "Ugh, she's ripe, all right."

"Yeah, she was working on that in the car." Emmett got the diaper bag and took Marie from Sharon. "Let's go get you changed."

"No!" Marie protested as Emmett carried her out of the room.

"She's getting such an attitude," Emily commented. "When did my favorite word stop being 'no?'"

Sharon rolled her eyes. "I'll let you know when we get there."

"Ha, ha." Emily got a couple of martini glasses out of a cabinet. "Witches' Brew?"

"Don't mind if I do."

Eleanor ran up to Emily to show off her costume. "Look, Emmy!"

Emily smiled and picked her up. "You are the cutest little kitty I've ever seen!"

"I _am_ really cute," Eleanor agreed.

And modest, too." Emily put her down and went back to making their drinks. "I brought some dry ice to make them steam later. They'll go perfectly with your costume."

Emmett came back in with Marie dressed in her pumpkin costume, and she grinned and reached for Sharon, who happily took her from him. "Look at my sweet girl! You're adorable," she cooed.

Provenza arrived not much later, huffing and grumbling in his Uncle Fester costume. "I can't _believe_ I have to do this. Flynn, I blame you entirely."

Andy rolled his eyes. "Of course you do."

Captain Hernandez wasn't far behind him with her sons, and she broke into a laugh when she saw Andy and Provenza. "This is even better than I thought."

"I'm glad _someone's_ enjoying this," Provenza muttered.

"This could've all been avoided if you had just admitted I was right to begin with," Elisa reminded him.

"Ye gods, we will _never_ live this down," Provenza grumbled.

"No, you won't," Andrea agreed, as she had just arrived. She snapped a photo of Andy and Provenza standing next to each other, looking equally disgruntled. "Perfect. I'm sure Elisa can find the perfect place to put this to remind you of your stupidity."

"Ahh, I like the way you think," Elisa replied. "I hadn't even thought of that."

"That's what I'm here for." Andrea looked around. "I heard something about Witches' Brew?"

Before long, the party was in full swing. It was an eclectic mix of personal and LAPD friends and some of their children. Sharon found herself watching Julio with the divorced daughter of one of her friends, and she didn't realize how obviously she was staring until Andrea appeared beside her. "Playing matchmaker?"

Sharon jumped. "What? No! I mean, they seemed to hit it off at our Labor Day party, so I didn't think it would hurt to give them another chance to meet."

"Uh-huh."

A little while later, Andy finished getting ready for bed and climbed in beside Sharon. She couldn't keep her eyes open and was falling asleep. "Nooooo, don't fall asleep! What happened to-"

"Mmm, Morticia's sleepy," Sharon murmured. "Rain check?"

"You drive a hard bargain, Morticia." Andy kissed her forehead and curled up beside her.

Early on Halloween evening the following Thursday, Sharon sat on the front porch with a few friends from her old neighborhood. Andy had been rolled out on Sunday and would probably be late getting home, so she'd invited them over for the evening.

"Halloween with no kids. The best kind," Janet commented.

"I know, right? Who needs more wine?" Sharon asked. When their children were growing up, they'd had a tradition of pizza and cocktails before taking their kids trick-or-treating as a group. They would always reconvene at Sharon's afterward to keep the party going, and one by one the dads would take their children home for bed. That was always another tradition-Halloween was theirs, and they were recreating it tonight. The temperature dropped as the sun went down, so Sharon went inside for a thicker cardigan and another bottle of wine. They talked and listened to music on the front porch, passing out candy as trick-or-treaters steadily arrived. She watched as families walked around the neighborhood, some in groups, and some by themselves, but almost all of the adults with cups in their hands of beverages that were most likely of the alcoholic variety. Some things never change.

Sharon was surprised when Andy pulled into the driveway a couple of hours later. She wasn't expecting him home until late, if even at all. He went into the house from the garage, so she met him in the kitchen. "You're home early."

"Yeah, we wrapped the case." Andy looked through the refrigerator for something to warm up for dinner. He just wanted to go to bed after a long week, but he had something else on his mind first. "I was, uh, kind of hoping to phone in my rain check," he murmured, pressing his lips to her neck. He started to pull away from her, but an intoxicating scent drew him back. "New soap?" He could also smell her perfume, so it wasn't that.

"Yeah. Rosewater. You like it?"

"You have _no_ idea..." Andy inhaled again, unable to pull himself away from her.

Sharon leaned back and gently pushed his face away from her. "They'll be gone soon, and then I'm all yours."

"I'm holding you to that." Andy went outside to say hello before getting dinner for himself. True to Sharon's word, her friends were gone soon, and he was quick to take advantage. He was waiting for her at the door as soon as he heard them leaving. "Trick or treat?" he mumbled into her neck.

Sharon took his hand and led him toward their bedroom. "Surprise me."


End file.
